When you apply for adoption, the first step to choose an agency which you find suitable for making your application with. Under the Pennsylvania adoption law, public and private adoption agencies are and licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW). These agencies are authorized, in various capacities, to help in the facilitation of the placement of an adoptive child into a permanent. Learning about how these agencies work is another important key to your application.

There are three licenses that may be issued to adoption agencies under the Pennsylvania adoption law. These three licenses are:

- Full Service License - DPW issues this license both to private and public adoption agencies and gives them the authority to assume care and custody of an adoptive child. Asides this, a full-service adoption agency may also provide other services like placing a child up for adoption, initiating the evaluation of prospective adoptive parents; and supervising the placement of an adoptive child into a new permanent home.

With a full service Texas adoption, the agency has the authority under the Pennsylvani law to recall a child from an unhealthy and unsuitable adoptive home environment, and proceed with steps to relocate him or her to a better and more caring permanent home.

- Non-custodial License - This license allows certain adoption agencies to work hand in hand with public or private full service agencies by specializing in certain areas of the adoption process. They may act as intermediaries between a full service agency and the birth parents, the adoptive parents and the agency, as well as between both the birth and adoptive parents.

Non-custodial adoption agencies also assist in the adoptive placement process. They offer follow-up and support services as well, especially after the child has been placed into their permanent homes. Certain services, under Pennsylvania adoption law, are our of non-custodial licensed-adoption agencies. They may not remove a child from an unsuitable home environment, nor are they authorized to assume the care and custody of a child, as well as initiate adoptive placement processes.

- Agency with Inter-country License - This license is issued by DPW as an additional suite of services under the Pennsylvania adoption law. The inter-country license allows these agencies to initiate final adoption proceedings that would allow placement of foreign-born children into permanent domestic homes. If you are interested in adopting a child from Asian countries such as Korea, China, or the Philippines, you may only do so with a private agency, because under Pennsylvania adoption law, these are the only agencies that may provide these services.

Make sure you go for adoption agency authorized and licensed under Pennsylvania adoption law. It ensures that you have not overstepped your own boundaries, and that your future son or daughter's welfare has been taken cared of before they are placed with you.